Jeffrey A. Dean awarded Honorary Fellowship & Fulbright Scholarship

A word from Dr. John Walsh, Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.

A chance meeting in Dublin back in 2013 between Dr. Jeff Dean and Dr. John Walsh (IU 1977), Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, resulted in a collaboration that led to Jeff being awarded a Fulbright Scholarship that enabled him to travel to Dublin for a three month visit to the Faculty there in 2016. Jeff’s visit commenced in September and he had been warned about the inclement weather likely to prevail. However, Jeff brought his own “luck of the Irish” with him and the autumn in Ireland proved to be the driest on record. Accommodations were sourced close to the centre of Dublin and Jeff and Barbie quickly became familiar with the Dublin bus and transport system.

During his time in Dublin, Jeff made a significant contribution to the Faculties activities. We drew on his experience as CEO of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry to have him evaluate our current examination procedures. He delivered two excellent lectures to our Postgraduate Lecture Series and he was invited to present the keynote address, the Edward Leo Sheridan Memorial lecture, at the Annual Scientific Conference of the Faculty that was held in Dublin at the end of October. This conference was a joint meeting between the Faculty of Dentistry RCSI and the AAPD and it proved to be extremely successful with a record number of attendees.

Jeff also spent some time visiting Trinity College Dental School in Dublin where he lectured to the postgraduate dental students, and he chaired a symposium on “Hypodontia in Dentistry”.
In recognition of Jeff’s contribution to Dentistry on an on-going basis, the Faculty of Dentistry of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland was unanimous in its decision to award him an Honorary Fellowship of the Faculty of Dentistry. This Fellowship represents the highest honour that can be bestowed on an individual and indeed there are only seven previous recipients in the history of the Faculty.

Of course, it was not all work! Jeff and Barbie took the opportunity of visiting many parts of Ireland and were also hosted in London by Dr. Albert Leung. All of our Board are fulsome in their praise of the collegiality, friendliness and willingness to share knowledge that Jeff exhibited. It was our distinct pleasure to have Jeff with us in RCSI and we look forward to further collaborations.